Balance: Both Left and Right angry with Obama on trade

posted at 1:46 pm on June 13, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

Barack Obama came to Washington to be a uniter … and he succeeded in this case, although not in the manner he promised. Two stories on trade have partisans on both sides of the political divide angry at the President. The administration’s position on the proposed Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) — a costly giveaway of American sovereignty — prompted Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) to accuse the White House of attempting to pass a back-door Kyoto protocol, while setting up US businesses for massive international lawsuits:

LOST was rejected by the Reagan administration 30 years ago and never received enough Senate support under former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to be ratified, but the internationalists in the Obama administration finally see the opportunity to muster enough votes for LOST during the lame-duck session after the November elections — the same way they rammed through the New START nuclear arms treaty following their disastrous 2010 elections.

Ratifying LOST not only means losing national sovereignty, it means losing jobs. If the United States enters this agreement, it would mean giving up billions in oil-and-gas royalties to be redistributed among developing and landlocked nations — some of whom are state sponsors of terror — and subjecting the United States to international climate change lawsuits. …

Although the treaty is meant to establish a set of rules regarding the oceans, only a few pages of it deal with purely navigational concerns. The bulk of the 288-page treaty does things like establish a new international bureaucracy in Jamaica to collect and redistribute royalties on offshore oil drilling and force the United States into international arbitration for environmental disputes.

During a recent Senate hearing, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked how LOST would regulate American carbon emissions. Clinton claimed it wouldn’t, but she didn’t appear to consider several portions of the treaty that condemn and place sanctions on pollution — even those coming from land-based sources.

While conservatives fulminate over the re-emergence of LOST and its concessions, the Left is expressing outrage over a leaked document in Pacific Rim economic negotiations. The White House has apparently abandoned the pledges it made to unions and environmentalists in attempting to forge a new Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. One humanitarian group went so far as to claim that Obama turned out to be worse than George Bush on trade:

The newly leaked document is one of the most controversial of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact. It addresses a broad sweep of regulations governing international investment and reveals the Obama administration’s advocacy for policies that environmental activists, financial reform advocates and labor unions have long rejected for eroding key protections currently in domestic laws. …

Yet nearly all of those vows are violated by the leaked Trans-Pacific document. The one that is not contravened in the present document — regarding access to life-saving medication — is in conflict with a previously leaked document on intellectual property (IP) standards.

“Bush was better than Obama on this,” said Judit Rius, U.S. manager of Doctors Without Borders Access to Medicines Campaign, referring to the medication rules. “It’s pathetic, but it is what it is. The world’s upside-down.”

In this case, the Left and Right might agree even more closely. The pact would also remove jurisdiction over complaints against American companies from American courts, and would not impose the same requirements on foreign companies:

Under the agreement currently being advocated by the Obama administration, American corporations would continue to be subject to domestic laws and regulations on the environment, banking and other issues. But foreign corporations operating within the U.S. would be permitted to appeal key American legal or regulatory rulings to an international tribunal. That international tribunal would be granted the power to overrule American law and impose trade sanctions on the United States for failing to abide by its rulings.

Yeah, that sounds like a great deal for America. This is “smart power”?

What I am fearing most is a cornered, politically wounded Obama who has “nothing to lose.”

While he’ll need to play centrist between now and the election, we could see some truly horrific “scorched Earth” policies coming our way between November and January, backed by EPA fiat, the DoJ (even sans-Holder), and tentacles of the Executive Branch when he loses. (Kind of like the Lame Duck Illinois legislature who voted in a 66% tax hike after being voted out of office.)

And it certainly wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Joe Biden suddenly “opted out”… and was replaced on the ticket by (suprise!) Hillary and Bill.

LOST is a treason, not a treaty. Anyone who votes for it or pushes it needs to be removed from our government. There’s a similar Outer Space Treaty floating around that the anti-American idiots are trying to push, too – Commies in Space, basically.

As to the Left, who really cares what the Left thinks about anything? They’re idiots and they’re insane. Their opinion on anything is absolutely worthless.

I don’t quite see any of this tripe pass the House. Boehner will end up with a gavel all the way up his rectum if he pushes for it.

Archivarix on June 13, 2012 at 2:02 PM

LOST is a treaty and the House doesn’t have much say. I suspect the Pacific one is too (since it is a trade pact between nations). Advise and Consent on treaties is solely in the hands of our friend Harry Reid and compatriots.

They need 34 Senators to beat either in the lame duck and DeMint is short quite a few.

LOST is a treaty and the House doesn’t have much say. I suspect the Pacific one is too (since it is a trade pact between nations). Advise and Consent on treaties is solely in the hands of our friend Harry Reid and compatriots.

They need 34 Senators to beat either in the lame duck and DeMint is short quite a few.

Dawnsblood on June 13, 2012 at 2:10 PM

Oops, thanks for the correction. I don’t believe any Republican Senator, even as thoroughly rotten as McCain or Murky not to speak of traitorous-yet-probably-sane Maine duo, could possibly vote for this abomination and boost the jug-eared traitor right before the election. Scott Brown may do, as he has to deal with patently insane electorate, but that’s it.

For every time Obama was on tv with that smug smile of his, for every time one of his minions put down this country and it’s people, for every time someone like Anderson Cooper joyfully called Tea Party members teabaggers, for every time they blamed George Bush, for Pelosi’s defiant stance after Obamacare was passed in such an underhanded way, and on and on I laugh at the continuing unravelling of Obama and the left. The MSM has been damaged by carrying Obama’s water both in 2008 and now. Hollywood has been shown for being the immoral leftists they are and boxoffice is down because of it. The Democrats have been exposed for being exactly what the right has said they are, tax and spenders. This emperor has always been nekkid and it ain’t pretty folks.

I have been setting here for some time trying to make my lower lip do what that picture of bho’s face. So far no go! Could it be bho has a ‘plug of chew’ in the lower lip to make that face? Or does bho spend hours in front of the mirror getting this dandy pout face?

At least is not near as bad as the one sometimes here that is the most evil thing I have seen in ages.
L

Treaties need 2/3 vote of the Senate. Are there really 67 Senators who wold vote for this?

rbj on June 13, 2012 at 2:07 PM

Unfortunately, it’s only 2/3 of the Senate PRESENT … and since it is now understood that Herr Barkfurher can declare when the Senate is in and out of session, I wouldn’t put it past him to pull some sh!t with a Senate that is filled mostly with dems and claim that it’s done.

I know, this is a totally insane idea that America would never let happen, but after he declared the Senate out of session and rammed his illegal recess appointment through (along with all the other clearly illegal and un-American stuff he’s done and gotten away with) I wouldn’t totally write this insane scenario off.

Has anyone noticed the Subway commercial that portrays the black fireman – the chief – as a liar and a thief? This struck me as being completely out of character for anyone in the media/advertising business… until you look at Obama’s proud display of incompetence and dishonesty.

The State Department has confirmed President Obama will skip the Rio+20 sustainable development summit in Brazil next week. It’s the third consecutive global environmental conference that Obama will miss after he avoided the last two UN climate talks in South Africa and Mexico. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Environmental Protection Agency head Lisa Jackson will lead the U.S. delegation.

SANTA FE – The dunes sagebrush lizard will not be listed as an endangered species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided today against federal protection for the lizard, which exists in four counties of southeastern New Mexico and four others in West Texas.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has scheduled a news conference for later today, but the federal government’s position is that voluntary conservation agreements to save the reptile are working well.

Through these measures, private landowners and businesses are setting aside land and money to protect the dunes sagebrush lizard’s habitat, which overlaps with oil drilling in the Permian Basin.

The lizard needs wind-blown dunes with a shrub called shinnery oak to survive.

Massive power to multinational corporations? Yeah, that’s totally communist or something. This is disgraceful, but hopefully it will demonstrate once and for all to the righ that there’s nothing socialist or communist about this Administration. On global capitalism we’re actually to the right of W. Bush, I guess he was a commie too?

As to the leaked trade agreement, the Huffington Post article notes at the end:

Trans-Pacific negotiations have been taking place throughout the Obama presidency. The deal is strongly supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the top lobbying group for American corporations. Obama’s Republican opponent in the 2012 presidential elections, Mitt Romney, has urged the U.S. to finalize the deal as soon as possible.

This is extremely dangerous as it transfers to the U.N. the monitoring of the seas, and treaties can not be undone by new presidents.

Schadenfreude on June 13, 2012 at 1:55 PM

Pfft. A president with glands would just ignore the treaty. If the U.N. doesn’t like it, they can pack up their things and leave Turtle Bay. Without our money. Good riddance.

If the foreign companies operating here don’t like it, fine, they can leave too.

If Belgium doesn’t like it, great, let them invade us.

When we get the government and onerous taxes and regulations out of the way and the economy actually starts working again, and we get self-sufficient in energy, we’ll be in a position to call the shots.

It’s when we have a spineless turd like O’Urkel in the White House that we get into this kind of crap.

I’d actually like to see it get signed, because when we subsequently ignore it, maybe that would spell the beginning of the end for the foolish U.N.

Any conflict with US Constitution renders agreements null and void. A3 explains judicial responsibilities. A5 explains how to change or affix the US Constitution. Simple handshakes and signatures cannot bypass a 220 years young Supreme Document.

Look up Bricker Amendment if you want some history and prophetic warning.

Folks. Believe it. There are plenty of Republicans that support LOST and other treaties that would undermine our sovereignty. It is not a partisan thing, so be aware of it because crap like this are appealing to the quislings in our midst. They need to be routed even if they are “electable”.